Shoe and shoemaking



July 23, 1931.

J. W. MAY

SHOE AND SHOEMAKING Filed 001:. 5, 1928 2 Sheet-Sheet 1 July28, 1931. J. w. MAY 1,816,386

s'HoE AND SHOEMAKING Filed Oct. 5, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 28, 1931 UNITED STATES JOHN WALTER MAY, OF BELMONT, MASSACHUSETTS SHOE AND SHOEMAKING Application filed October 5, 1828. Serial No. 310,503.

This invention relates to shoes characterized by an outsole which is attached completely or principally by cement. In one aspect it comprises an improved shoemaking method whereby a shoe of this character may be produced in a new and advantageous manner and in another aspect the invention comprises the shoe herein shown as produced by the method of my invention.

Rubber sole shoes heretofore have been noticeably lacking in the style and fine lines of leather soled shoes. The sole has had a heavy effect at its edge, particularly in the shank, where no attempt has been made to reduce the edge of the sole and the union between the upper and the sole has tended always to be poorly defined and has failed to show in a clean-cut manner the lines of the last.

I have succeeded in improving the appearance of the shoe, the strength of its construction and the economy of its production by a novel method of shoemaking which is characterized by the step of sewing to the margin of the upper, before it is lasted, a welt strip of rubberized material which, in the subsequent bottoming operation, is united to the inner rubberized face ofthe outsole. In accordance with an important feature of the invention the welt strip is sewn to the upper about the forepart thereof with its ed e substantially flush with the margin of t e upper, while at the ball line on either side of the upper the welt strip is deflected abruptly inwardly and throughout the shank is attached to its inner margin so that it substantially overlaps the margin of the upper in the shank. When the outsole is laid, the welt strip is united to it throughout the entire width of the strip. The portion of the welt strip in the shank of the shoe, however, being deflected inwardly as explained, is located within the edge of the outsole and is not visible in the finished shoe, thereby reducing the thickness of the sole in the shank as compared to the thickness of the sole in the forepart by the thickness of the welt strip.

The method of my invention is further 50 characterized, in making some classes of shoes, by the step of uniting the outer margin of the welt strip, that is, the portion outside the stitch line, with the margin of the outsole and this may be done by wheeling' or beating, or in any other convenient manner. The result of this step is to form a clear-cut line of demarcation between the upper and the bottom of the shoe, which greatly improves the style and general appearance of the shoe.

In practicing the method of my invention, I prefer to employ an outsole which may be of rubber or rubber-faced and which in the forepart is beveled slightly outwardly in its margin and which in its shank is beveled substantially upon its upper and inner edges. In laying such an outsole, the shank edges are bent upwardly in conformity to the last, presenting the thin-edge effect so much desired in fine footwear.

These and other features of the invention will be best'understood and appreciated in connection with the following description of the preferred method of-practicing my invention and a preferred form of shoe roduced thereby, selected for purposes 0 illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a plan view of a portion of an upperhaving the welt strip partially at- 8 tached; I

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the upper lasted upon an insole in inverted position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 2, illustrating further steps of the method;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the outsole; Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional views corresponding to Fig. 3 but illustrating further 9 steps in the method; and

Fig. 8 is a view of the complete shoe in side elevation.

I have herein shown the method of my invention as carried out in producing a shoe having a fabric upper, a rubber sole and a wooden heel or, more specifically, in a rubber-soled canvas shoe, although it will be understood that the invention is not limited to shoes of this or of any particular material but may be employed to good advantage in the manufacture of any shoe in which the outsole is attached completely or principally by cement.

In practicing my invention, the upper 10 is first prepared by applying to the margin thereof a narrow band of cement 12 on both surfaces. This may be done conveniently in any double upper cementing machine ofcommercial type. A welt strip 14 is next secured to the edge of the upper, preferably by a double row of stitching 16. The welt strip may be of any rubberized fabric although I prefer to use double friction tape since this is available in commercial quantities at low price and answers all the requirements. In stitching the welt strip to the upper, the margin of the upper is used as a gauge from the ball line on one side to the ball line on the other side of the vamp and the outer edge of the welt strip 14 is, accordingly, located substantially flush with the outer edge of the vamp 10. The line of stitching is located about within the inner margin of the welt strip in this part of the upper. On reaching the ball line at either side of the vamp, the welt strip is deflected abruptly outwardly and the line of stitching, instead of being spaced from the edge of the upper, is now deflected as close as possible to it so that in the shank portion of the upper the welt strip 16 projects beyond theedge of the upper, overlapping it by substantially its entire width, that is, the line of stitching is brought as close to the outer edge of the upper and also to the inner edge of the welt strip as is practical.

The next step in the process consists in lasting the cemented upper, with the welt strip attached, to a cemented insole properly located on the last. In this operation, the margin of the upper is drawn upwards ly and inwardly over the edge of the insole 18 and pressed into contact with it. The inner cemented surface of the upper is immediately united by the cement to the surface of the insole and simultaneously the rubberized welt strip is laid fiat upon the cemented outer surface of the upper. Figs. 2 and 3 represent the shoe in this condition, the marginal edge of the welt strip 14, which now becomes the inner edge in the lasted shoe, registering with inner lasted edge of the upper 10 throughout the fore part gof the shoe and lapping inwardly beyond the lasted edge of the upper in the shank.

The pleat or wrinkle 20 formed in the welt strip at the point of its deflection at the ball line is nexttrimmed to eliminate any bunch at this point. A filler piece 22 of cemented rag stock is then inserted upon the surface of the insole between the margins of the lasted upper and a shank piece 24 is properly located on the bottom of the shoe at the shank. Fig. 4 represents the shoe in this condition, the notch 26 in the welt strip indicating where the projecting pleat in the welt strip has been removed.

The outsole 30 which has been previously the shank portion is beveled inwardly and upwardly at its edge 34 at a substantially flatter angle. The inner surface of the outsole is cemented prior to the sole laying operation and when it is laid it adheres at once to the entire shoe bottom including the welt strip, the upper where it shows through the welt strip, the filler 22 and the shank piece 24 which has also been cemented.

The shoe bottom is next wheeled to perfeet the union of the outsole 30 with inner cemented surfaces of the bottom and to shape the marginal edges 34 of the shank into conformity to the last bottom so that only the reduced edge of the sole is visible in the shank. It will be understood that here no portion of the welt strip 14 projects outwardly sufficiently to reach the edge of the sole but that the upper is directly united to the surface of the sole behind the ball line and outside the outer margin of the welt strip. The result is a thin edge shank of fine and graceful lines.

After the outsole is laid, the outer margin of the welt strip, beyond the line of stitching, is wheeled to make it adhere to the upper surface of the outsole and in this operation it may be caused to project slightly beyond the edge of the outsole in some locations. Fig. 6 represents the shoe with the outsole 30 laid thereon and in Fig. 7 the wheel 60 of a wheeling machine is shown as wheeling down the outer margin of the welt strip and causing it to adhere firmly tolthe upper marginal surface of the outso e.

The projecting feather of the welt strip 14 is then trimmed flush with the outer edge of the outsole. This may be effected conveniently by a rotary grinding wheel 62 to which the work is presented and with respect to which the work may be gauged from the edge of the outsole. The left side of Fig. 7 represents the work in this condition.

The shoe may be then subjected to the usual vulcanizing process to make permanent the cemented unions in. its structure and is completed by attaching the heel 36 which is shaped at its breast edge to merge smoothly into the lines of the shank.

Having thus described the novel method of my invention together with one form of cementing a rubber sole to the under side of said strip throughout the entire width thereof and on both sides of the line of stitching, and then trimming the projecting edge of said strip to the contour of the sole.

2. The method of shoemaking which comprises the steps of stitching a rubberized welt strip to the forepart of the upper with the inner margins of the strip and upper substantially registering and stitching said strip in the shank so that it substantially overlaps the -margin of the upper, lasting the upper, and then laying a rubber sole hav ing a reduced shank'on' the shoe bottom and causing it to unite with said rubberized strip throughout the entire area of the strip.

3. The method of shoemaking which comprises the steps of stitching a rubberized welt strip to: the margin of a spread-out upper by a line of stitching which is located at the margin of the welt strip in the shank portion of the upper, the strip being bent outwardly-with respect to the edge of the spread-out upper at the ball line, lasting the upper with the attached welt strip, laying a rubber sole on the shoe bottom, and cansing it to unite with the weltstrip and with the upper outside the welt strip in the shank portion of the lasted upper. a p

4. The method of shoemaking which comprises the steps of securing a welt strip of rubberized fabric to the upper in registration with the margin of the forepart thereof, bending the strip abruptly at the ball line to overlap the upper in the shank, trimming the strip at the point of bending to flatten it, and laying a rubber faced sole on the shoe bottom and causing it to unite Withsaid welt strip. v

5. A shoe comprising a fabric upper having a rubberized welt strip secured to its reduced shank united to the shoe bottom including said welt strip.

7. A shoe comprising an upper having a rubberized welt strip secured to its lasted edge by a stitch row spaced from the margin of the upper throughout the forepart of the shoe and located substantially at the margin in the shank of the shoe, and a rubber faced sole united to said welt strip and cfivering it completely in the shank of the s oe.

rubberized welt strip secured to its lasted edge and deflected inwardly at the ball line at both sides of the shank, and a rubber 8. A shoe comprising an upper having a I faced sole united to said welt strip through-- out the entire area thereof,-the welt strip being flush with margin of the outsole about the forepart, and the' upper contacting directly with the margin of-the outsole in the shank outside the welt strip, thereby concealing the welt strip.

9. The method of shoemaking characterized by "the steps of stitching a welt strip to the margin of a spreadout upper by a line of stitching which is located at the margin of the welt strip in the shank portion of the upper, the strip being bent outwardly with respect to the edge of the'spread-out upper at the ball line, lasting the upper with theattached welt strip, laying a sole on the shoe bottom, and'uniting' the sole with the welt strip at the forepart and with the upper outside the welt strip in the shank portion of the lasted upper. v

. J. WALTER MAY.

lasted edge, registering therewith in the fore 

